Couples' Affect in Relationships Study

NCT ID: NCT06907654

Last Updated: 2025-09-16

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 2000 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2026-03-31
• Study Completion Date: 2028-12-31

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to find out whether learning about well-being impacts the thoughts and feelings of romantic couples. The main question it aims to answer is:

• Does gaining knowledge about well-being positively impact individuals and their romantic relationships?

Participants will complete online surveys about their thoughts and feelings.

Detailed Description

This study will deliver a meditation-based mobile intervention (The Healthy Minds Program) to one member of a long-term romantic couple and will assess for relationship satisfaction/distress, well-being, and mindfulness in both the primary participant and their partner. The control group will receive a list of well-being-based psychoeducation resources.

Conditions

Depression Disorders

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

The Healthy Minds Program (HMP) mobile application

Primary participants in the HMP group will be instructed to complete a 4-week intervention through the app.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

well-being app

Intervention Type: DEVICE

The HMP app is a meditation-based smartphone app designed to promote and protect psychological well-being through sustainable skills training. The program is grounded in constituents of psychological well-being identified in empirical literature. HMP provides core content, with instruction administered through a curriculum of guided practices. HMP has guided audio practices that address 4 constituents of well-being: awareness, connection, insight, and purpose.

List of well-being resources

Primary participants will be instructed to use a curated list of well-being resources.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

List of well-being resources

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be given a list of resources that promote well-being.

Partner - Surveys only

Partner participants will complete surveys their thoughts and feelings.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

well-being app

The HMP app is a meditation-based smartphone app designed to promote and protect psychological well-being through sustainable skills training. The program is grounded in constituents of psychological well-being identified in empirical literature. HMP provides core content, with instruction administered through a curriculum of guided practices. HMP has guided audio practices that address 4 constituents of well-being: awareness, connection, insight, and purpose.

Intervention Type: DEVICE

List of well-being resources

Participants will be given a list of resources that promote well-being.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Age ≥ 18 years
• Be either married, living together, OR in a dating relationship for at least 12 months
• Proficiency in English
• US citizen or permanent resident
• If non-monogamous, must be able to enroll in the study with a primary partner with whom they spend the majority of their time.
• Use of a smartphone (primary participant only)
• Depression symptoms (≥ 5 on PHQ-9; primary participant only)

Exclusion Criteria

• Severe physical or sexual relationship aggression during the past 6 months (any item endorsement on 5-item severe IPV screener)
• Endorsement of active suicidality
• History of psychosis or mania
• Prior use of the Healthy Minds Program app
• Prior significant experience with meditation
• Severe hearing impairment that would interfere with the use of an audio-based intervention (primary participant only)

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

University of Wisconsin, Madison

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Simon Goldberg, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Locations

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Lily Smith

Role: CONTACT

cares@chm.wisc.edu

Facility Contacts

Lily Smith

Role: primary

cares@chm.wisc.edu

Other Identifiers

A171600

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

EDUC/COUNSELING PSYCH

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

2025-0357

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id